A Cinderella FTA
by sheltiegrl
Summary: Stephanie is having a normal day of failing to catch her skips. One even takes off in her car leaving behind his shoe. But the real struggle is her new predicament with the men in her life. I am going to rate this M to cover my bases.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Most all characters are not mine, they belong to the genius Janet Evanovich.

This is my first writing in a few years, hope I dont disappoint anyone.

I am in the middle of mid terms and just needed a break so here is the first part of an idea i cooked up in my head.

I reached for my cuffs but he was quicker. In an instant I was on the ground covered in mud from head to toe and my skip was halfway across the parking lot running with one shoe, the other was still on his front porch step. I climbed to my feet just in time to see the skip drive off in my old cavalier.

Today was not starting off well at all, I hadn't even gotten breakfast before Connie had called and told me that Nicolò Luzi had been spotted hiding out at his cousins trailer on the east side of Trenton near the mini mart. Unluckily for me, the mini mart had gotten robbed a few months back and had gone belly up. Now there wasn't a store, gas station, or business within five miles. Sure, I could easily begin walking and make it home before dark, but I hadn't eaten yet today. And even if I got somewhere with actual safe civilization, I would still probably need to call for a ride.

Lula was my first choice, not that I particularly needed to hear what she had to say about my current state and wardrobe, but seeing her brought the least anxiety and the potential quickest result so I rang her.

"Hello?"

"Lula, its Stephanie. I need a ride."

"Oh…. That's not good. I am temporarily incapacitated, if you know what I mean." Her voice dropped to a whisper and I knew immediately she was with her lasted catch, he was the fry cook at Cluck-in-a-Bucket. And he had family money that allowed him to own a house in the Burg, a step up from Lula's apartment on Stark. She had been spending a lot of time at his house lately.

In a hushed tone she continued, "I think I may be with my future husband! He cooks fried chicken and everything!"

Lula was in heaven, a man with her favorite style of cooking abilities that worshiped her like a god. I was happy for her, she had had a rough time readjusting to the dating world after her breakup with Tank, one of the Rangeman men who frequently was sent to my aid when I did dumb things like get stranded in the middle of a trailer park at 9am on a Friday morning. I disconnected with Lula, wishing her luck and considering all other options apart from Rangeman.

Morellis and I were in an "off" stage and it was quite possibly the most avowed breakup we had had. It was also the most talked about event in the Burg, possibly in all of Trenton.

Connie wouldn't be able to leave the office, not with Vinnie away on another one of his sex-addicts-anonymous retreats.

My father had had a recent appendectomy which ruled out any family members coming to my aid.

That left Ranger.

My phone buzzed against my hand and I answered it.

" _Babe_ " His Voice was playful, "Your car is on Stark and West at Moe's Strip Club. You are not."

Ranger had the odd habit of bugging my vehicles and random articles of clothing, at first the bugs had been easy to identify, dropped in my purse or attached inside my cell phone. Somewhere along the way they either began being hidden better, or I just stopped caring. Truthfully it was a security blanket of mine to have him and his men tracking me, I was known to get myself in a bind from time to time and they came in quite handy.

"My skip took it" I replied with defeat. I could almost hear a hint of smile from him through the phone.

"Need a ride?"

I hesitated for a moment, weighed my options, but eventually I realized that a ride from Ranger or one of his men would be the fastest way to get from point A, trailer park, to Point B, my apartment where I could take a hot shower and eat. Not that I ever had real food at my apartment but even an olive and peanut butter sandwich sounded good right now. So I took him up on his offer.

"Yes"

I disconnected and let out a sigh. The man was always coming to my rescue, for Christ's sake he had literally jumped off of a bridge for me once. Recently though I had acquired a routine that conveniently avoided Ranger, not that it had worked. After a week and a half he had shown up in my apartment unannounced to " _babe_ " me and asks if I had purposefully fallen off the grid or was just avoiding him. My guess is that his men had picked up on the missing bugs and new driving routes. I had made a lame excuse up of being ill and he saw right through it, to his credit he didn't rub that fact in.

The truth was, I had always had Morelli in my life to fall back to as an excuse when Ranger and my….unconventional relationship, if you can call it even that, got too heated or too close to actual relationship status. Even during our "offs", Morelli and I, I could use our relationship as my own personal "Ranger Shield" to emotions. But I no longer had that. Before, Morelli and I had miscommunications, power struggles, frustrations, or personal stand-offs over petty matters. We had never had another woman between us. Sure, Ranger, and occasionally Diesel, was a hurtle to overcome. Ranger more often because I was attracted to him and he returned that attraction. Morelli had acid reflux from that mutual attraction quite often, he would continuously warn me of Ranger and Ranger knew all of this as well. It was years of Ping-Pong amongst us. But Morelli was the husband type and Ranger was not. Ranger was my man of mystery, my own personal Batman. I kind of always felt that was supposed to live out retirement with Morelli, Bob, and maybe even kids. Maybe. But I have to admit that domesticating Ranger had also crossed my mind many of times.

But this was different; this break up wasn't going to resolve over pizza, beer, and Morelli's Italian libido. Morelli was marrying Giuliana Bassani and raising a child, his child. Sure, Lula and Connie told me that he just felt obligated, he didn't _really_ love her, and etc. etc. the list grew by the day. But he had, he had loved her once and he would again. That is what happens when you live with someone, you cohabitate and raise a child together. These things bring feelings, commitments, and love.

I had accepted all of that and had been adjusting well to it all. Ranger was an entirely different subject. Ranger was not the _only_ man in my life. Before I had had two men in my life, now I didn't have that to hide behind. Diesel liked to think he was now a close number two to Ranger, but truth was, there are no close number twos when it comes to Ranger. Morelli had been in another class, but Ranger…. Ranger was a class of his own. Ranger was over six feet of drop dead gorgeous, perfectly tuned muscle mass that knew how to stop my heart and resuscitate it all in one look, one casual " _babe_ ". And that scared the hell out of me.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own the characters, I am only test driving them today.

Thank you for all of your reviews and kind words, again I am in the middle of midterms and 6 papers on various subjects from Shakespeare to the French Revolution, I just hope to keep them separate from this :) I apologize for the short chapters during this time.

In less than ten minutes a black Rangeman SUV was pulling up beside me. I quickly made a mental wish that is was Tank or Hal or even a newbie.

No luck. Ranger stepped out of the driver's side and leaned against the SUV in front of me. Our eyes locked and I could see a hint of stress in his.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Not much, you?" In his usual Ranger way he was leaving the talking to me.

"My skip stole my car and all I have to show for my efforts is his shoe." I nodded towards the shoe that had been abandoned on the front porch step. Ranger's lips curled up slightly in a smile as he slowly shook his head back and forth.

"You never cease to amuse me babe."

"Well I'm glad I am useful for something." I looked down at my feet and studied the cracks in the pavement until a pair of well-polished black boots came into view. Ranger gently tipped my face up so that our eyes again met.

"You are far more useful than you give yourself credit for."

Our eyes studied one another's for a long moment. Ranger's fingers moved from my chin up my cheek until his hand cupped the side of my face in it. We stayed this way, silent but understanding for what felt like an eternity until Ranger cleared his throat, quickly snapping his arm back down to his side and asked;

"Are you going to ransom the shoe?"

My seriousness was interrupted by a brief smile at his comment.

"I suppose I could keep the shoe, hold a Cinderella hunt for the owner."

Ranger met my smile then walked over, picked up the shoe and placed it in the back seat. He then opened my door and waited until I was safely inside to gently shut it. He climbed back into the driver's seat and headed back towards town.

We rode in silence, neither of us wanted to address the elephant in the room. Or elephants, rather; my absence in his affairs, Morelli, our new standing without Morelli in the mix, the fact that once again he was coming to my aid. Not that he saw the last as an elephant, I'm sure he just saw it as routine by now.

We turned the corner at Fifth Avenue and Ranger pulled the SUV next to the curb and stopped. I looked around confused and he turned to face me.

"How long are you going to avoid me babe?"

I was stunned; this was so unlike Ranger to confront me. I stammered, "W-what do you mean?"

Ranger pressed his lips into a thin straight line and caught my gaze as I tried to shift it to look out the front window. His eyes were black and sincere. I could almost see something in them, something I rarely found in them because he was always so steadfast and composed. I thought I saw pain.

Who am I kidding, Ranger wouldn't feel pain over my avoidance of him, sure he liked to…. Distract me from time to time, or as he liked to put it, ruin me for all other men. But actual feelings that could hurt, who am I kidding?

He withdrew his gaze and softly shook his head again.

"You sounded a little grumpy on the phone earlier, have you eaten today?"

Whiplash, one minute he is sincere and hurt looking and the next he is calling me grumpy? Okay, so he has a tendency to be a big stickler on proper dietary habits and all, but still.

"Grumpy? Did you just call me grumpy?" My eyes narrowed at him. How dare he call me grumpy when he is the one all moody this morning?

"Steph, you know what I mean. And you have a tendency not to eat." He hesitated and I was about to jump back into defense mode but he stopped me. "I was just offering to pick something up for you before I took you back to your apartment, you don't always keep a full fridge and it is going to take my men a few hours to get you a new car lined up."

Okay so now he not only calls me grumpy, offends my dietary habits, and my fridge; but on top of that he is giving me yet another car.

"I don't need another car, I have one."

Ranger was use to this from me; he calmly opened his cell phone and brought up a photo of my cavalier to show me, "Babe, your car is in no shape to be driven around jersey."

My little red car was on blocks, missing a steering wheel, and had in-explicit words written across it that I dared not read aloud in the presence of children.

"That doesn't mean I need a Rangeman car"

"Babe, it's not a shackle, it's a car and I want to make sure you're safe."

"I don't need you to watch over me twenty four-seven."

Ranger looked frustrated now.

"Look, it's not a big deal, it's a car. Now, do you want something to eat?"

I had it in me to spit out a harsh _NO_ and let him return me to my apartment where I could hide, but I was really hungry, and Ranger knew me entirely too well. I took a deep breath and relaxed back into the leather seat of the SUV.

"That would be nice."


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own the characters, i am just playing with them.

Again I apologize for short update, I really appreciate the reviews you have given also! I wrote this next installment between class today, I just couldn't help myself, I needed a study break. :)

After picking up take out for lunch Ranger returned me to my apartment and walked me to my door silently. I stopped outside the door, one hand on the door knob and looked at him sincerely.

I wanted to tell him I was sorry, that I was confused, that I didn't know how to fit him into my complex, disorderly mind now that he was at the forefront of all my thoughts.

Ranger and I had always had an unconventional relationship to one another, one that had no perfect category to file it into and be able to reach plausible conclusions or results to determine it. Nothing about Ranger was categorizable. Sure, you could predict his wardrobe mostly, it was black. You could predict his food choices often as well, they were healthy. What you couldn't predict was his emotions; the only emotion I knew to predict was protective, he would keep me safe at all costs to him and his men at Rangeman. For that I know he loved me, but in what way I could not tell.

"You've had a long morning Babe."

He stopped and I got the feeling there was more on his mind, more than he wanted to say out loud. But this was Ranger, he didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, he was composed, the silent type, he was Batman, immune to predictable human displays of emotions. Don't get me wrong, I know he felt emotions; he just didn't broadcast them to the world.

It was only in his eyes that I could see there was more; the rest of him was hard set, sturdy, statute.

This statement of his though was almost a warning, was he afraid of what might come out of my mouth if I were to speak right now? Did he not want to know what I was trying to say? Who am I kidding? I didn't even know what I wanted to say.

I wanted to push him away and I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and make him lose that composed aura, that cold defense stance he currently held.

But I knew if I lost my control, so would he. We've been in similar situations before, Ranger would not make the first move, he would be patient and wait for my okay. Once I gave that okay there was no going back, not for either of us. Our attraction was always evident, never hidden from ourselves or others. Not because we wanted it to show, but because it just did naturally.

I had even become part of the Rangeman staff lunchroom conversation; not because I had a knack of blowing up vehicles or getting myself into peculiar binds in which they were assigned to get me out of. I am sure those facts helped, but were not the most intriguing discussion. No, I was the conversation because there boss kept every bit of his personal life personal, except me. Rangeman had a personal task force and itemized budget labeled "Stephanie" for me. And I was the one non-work related possession that Ranger let them see.

Possession, the word froze on my mind, was I just a possession of entertainment? Was I _his_ possession? That thought should scare the hell out of me…. I am not something to be possessed. Stephanie! Snap out of it, Ranger didn't think of me that way, he never told me I couldn't do something, he always was supportive and simply made sure I was safe in doing whatever harebrained idea I had.

I often resented his overbearing and privacy defying activities towards me, but if I were being honest to myself, I appreciated it, I liked knowing he had my back and the only comment made was a comical, endearing, or sometimes frustrated " _Babe_ ".

I realized we had been standing there for quite some time at this point. It was getting a little uncomfortable.

"You're right, I need a shower." I addressed my mud caked clothing.

The mud had dried by now and was beginning to flake off.

Ranger smiled at this, his eyes even lit up as the corners of his mouth rose.

"I was just starting to get use to the mud wrestling look. You sure you need to wash it off? I don't mind a little dirt."

He brushed his thumb across my cheek and a clump of dirt fell from it. My cheek burned where his hand had been, but my mind couldn't convey what I wanted to say still. All I could do was smile. I turned toward my door and with a final look over my shoulder I gave what was probably a seductive smile and replied,

"And who's the dirty one now?"

I caught a glance of his 200 watt smile and small shake of his head before I closed the door behind me and sunk to the floor against it.

I listened to the hallway and wondered what was going through his mind as he stood still one last long moment before heading off down the hallway.

I signed and my hamster Rex poked his head out from his soup can on the counter to look at me.

"What? Would you rather me have invited him in?" I asked.

He twitched his whiskers and returned to the shelter of his soup can. If only I could hide from life like Rex does, not always, but in moments like this I sure wished


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for the reviews! Sorry I missed a day. Hope this makes up for it, its not long but it is longer than the first few chapters. Have a good week everyone!_

* * *

I turned over in bed, it was dark but I could smell Bvlgari shower gel and my senses tingled indicating the nearness of a particular person.

"Ranger?"

"Hey Babe" I could hear the smile in his voice.

"What are you…." I was cut off as placed himself over me, a hand on either side of my shoulders holding him up so that his face was inches from mine.

"Don't talk" he kissed me hard for a moment then released my mouth, he had kissed me so hard it felt as if his lips were still pressed against mine, it felt amazing. My body instantly felt weak with pleasure.

"Just feel"

And with that his mouth was over mine again as his hand slid under my shirt and up my stomach. I let out a gasp as a flood of heat raced across my body and tingled in desire for his hands to embrace it everywhere. I felt his smile against my lips before his mouth left mine to travel down my body leaving warm pools of delight everywhere he kissed, desperately, passionately, intensely, with a desire of his own.

Our clothes were off in record time and my arms tightly wound around his neck pulling him closer as my fingers tangled in his hair.

"Ranger"

"Shh, my turn to do the talking"

"You're not talking"

"No, I'm feeling"

And with that he was inside me and I lost control. It had been so long since I had had a release and it had been entirely too long since I had Ranger. I had forgotten how easily he sent me over the edge, and just… how good….it felt.

I was completely satisfied and desiring more all at the same time. Ranger's body pressed against me, it felt amazing. Every muscle and contour of him was complete perfection. How could I have ever avoided this, pushed him away. The man naturally knew every button my body had and how to press it just right. He did not lie years ago when he told me he would ruin me for all men. This man ruined the mere idea of any other man. This is the man I wanted in my life. Regardless of how long it may last, I was desperate for any time I could have. My second orgasm was building and I followed Ranger's instructions to stop talking, stop thinking, and just feel. This time he matched my release but instead of collapsing into me he continued to lay kisses along my shoulders.

My alarm sounded near my ear, at first I tried to ignore it, Ranger seem to be doing just that. It got louder in my ear so I reached over to hit it and CRASH, fell in darkness to the floor, my sheets tangled around me. The impact felt as if I had fallen twenty feet. I blinked and looked around my room.

It was daylight outside and the sun peeked in through the blinds enough for me to see the mess of sheets around me… and my pajama bottoms securely in place. What the hell?

My brain came into focus and I let out a sigh. I really need to figure out this situation with Ranger.

* * *

Monday came quick, I spent the weekend rearranging my hand-me-down furniture and researching via my grandmother, the possible whereabouts of my Cinderella skip. The weekend viewings proved unhelpful in my search but Elsie from Bingo told Grandma that he had a sister in Newark but she was on vacation in Tuscany with her new aviation husband she met online who flew commercial airlines.

Today was the day I set aside to drive in to Newark and take a look around. I grabbed my stun gun off the charger and tossed it into my purse with my hairspray, pepper spray, and lip gloss.

Before I left I clipped on the tiny watch Ranger had given me, it was second nature at this point to put it on, no thought process just habit.

No reason to change that now.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and called Lula.

"I'm on my way"

"I need donuts, pick up some of those glazed swirls from the Tasty Pastry on your way. Oh and some of those blueberry filled kind and custard ones too. Why don't you just pick up one of each, Newark is a long drive, I might get hungry halfway there and there might not be no stores to get snacks at, we might starve to death."

"Newark is an hour drive and I-95 is not the Sahara desert." I rolled my eyes.

"You never know, we might get stranded. And some homeless guy could rob us. We could die without donuts to get us through the night."

"If we get stranded, you'll have your gun. You can shoot anyone that tries to get in the car. Besides, you'll have the donuts eaten before we get to the highway."

"That's not nice. I'm a big beautiful women, are you implying I eat too much? Because if you're implying that I eat too much you're calling me fat, and I'm not fat."

"I didn't call you fat, nor imply it. I was nearly stating your habits of eating donuts. I'll be right over, I'm leaving my parking lot now."

I pulled into the Tasty Pastry side parking lot the recently put in since the building next door burned down, Grandma Mazur heard it was a custody battle over the family dog. The wife got mad for the husband taking the dog so she burned down his clock shop. The clock shop and the husband moved out of Trenton, the wife kept the poodle.

Gloria was working the counter this morning and greeted me as I walked in.

"Lula preordered via telephone, she said you would be by to pick them up" She set two boxes on the counter and I groaned. If I didn't catch this skip soon I was going to be behind on my rent again. I handed her my credit card but she stiffened and went white. Without even looking behind me I knew who had come in the door with the gust of wind from the coolness it brought.

"You!"

Morelli's Grandma Bella.

I gave Gloria the _run that card faster_ look and she regained focus long enough to swipe the card and hand me the receipt to sign.

"It is YOUR fault my grandson is living in SIN" She spat.

"No Bella, actually I had nothing to do with this one."

"You caused him years ago to create this life of sin he leads, you are the cause of my family's pain."

I sighed; I was not going to win this one.

Morelli's Grandma Bella blames me for Morelli's illegitimate child out of wedlock. Even though the child was conceived before Joe and I had even started dating as adults.

I had explained this to her two weeks ago when she cornered Grandma Mazur and I at the funeral home during the Bruicci viewing. Bella had given Grandma Mazur and me _the eye_. Grandma broke out in a rash from head to toe the next morning and was still seeing a dermatologist for lingering areas of redness. I hadn't had any symptoms that I knew of, though I could blame my indecisive and rotten couple of weeks on it if I really wanted to. But I was over that, I'm sure I had become immune to Bella's _eye_ over the past few years while dating her grandson.

It was silly to argue with Bella once she got something stuck in her mind, she would never admit she was wrong. But I wasn't going down for the child; the child had nothing to do with me.

"I'm not the one that got someone pregnant, nor did I become pregnant. I am doing just fine and I am no longer involved in your life so you can just bug out of mine."

Ok, so the use of the word bug was a bit childish, but damnit I was sick of her games.

"Bug! You call me a Bug! Why I…" Bella was cut off by the fire alarm. Gloria must have pulled it; she never was one for conflict. Gloria was one of those people that would crawl into a corner, cover her ears, and rock back and forth humming to herself if things got really bad. I was actually quite proud of this reaction of hers.

I mouthed a quick thank you over to her, she nodded and I flew out the door and around the corner to my car not taking the time to buckle my seatbelt before speeding toward Lula's. If someone pulled me over they would understand the emergency. Everyone in Trenton feared Bella and her Italian _eye_.

As I pulled up in front of Lula's apartment minutes later and she was waiting by the curb.

"OOOOOh I like this car, this here is a sassy car. You got my order? I didn't think you could remember them all so I called ahead." she asked climbing into the car, taking the boxes into her lap. I couldn't even take a breath before she launched back into talking, "This is a Ranger car, you two been doin the nasty again? Because I want details, oh do I envy you. He has one _fine_ ass and boy do he know how to pick out cars."

"No, I am not seeing Ranger. My car just spent too much time at the strip club and didn't make it out alive." I braced my shoulders in a protective stance and focused on the road.

"I don't want to know. Nope, I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy my donuts in quiet. You have too much pent up stress. Until you get laid I'm not talking to you." Lula took a bite of a glazed donut and stared out the front window.

"you won't make it that long, you can't be quiet, its physically impossible."

She chewed her donut and began to tap her foot, it was bugging her and I was right, she couldn't be quiet, it wasn't in her nature.

"Fine, but you do need to get laid. I don't care who it is, Ranger, Hal, hell you can screw Morelli for all I care. But you need to relax or you're gonna explode."

"I'm not sleeping with Morelli, he is getting married remember?"

"Yea, but that never stopped no one, men sleep with anything that moves if they are in the mood"

"No, not every man, just some men. And besides, I don't sleep with married men"

"Your choice, but you still need to have sex with someone"

"No. I don't"

"Ever since Morelli…"

"NO" I stopped her; I didn't want to hear it. My lack of sex had nothing to do with Morelli's new living arrangement. Morelli and I were over weeks before Giuliana, Gigi, came back into his life. And the child, well Gigi hadn't known who the child's father was so she had told her current boyfriend, Victor Vuletchi, that it was his. It wasn't until the boyfriend split that Gigi had a DNA test done and told Morelli. Morelli of course sent several DNA tests out but they had all came back conclusive, the child was his. He had briefly discussed raising the child from afar but Stephanie wasn't ready to commit to him and the child's mother wanted to be married. Morelli's family pushed and now in two weeks there would be a wedding.

The thought was almost settling, Stephanie felt a relief; yes she had loved Morelli, yes she had planned a future that included him, but after spending time in his hectic family life and dealing with his brother and nieces and nephews, Stephanie wasn't ready for all of that. And lately the spark just wasn't there, like in high school, she was simply falling out of love with Morelli….

"Fine, be that way. But you know I'm right. You need Ranger ruined."

"yea"

Lula's eyes shot my way.

"Oh you been havin sex dreams haven't you? You know what that means don't you? Your moons are aligned, its fate, you gotta be with him and you're running out of time."

I frowned. I didn't need moons to tell me I wanted to be with Ranger, I already knew that. What I needed was for someone to tell me if what I wanted was a life with Ranger, one without domestics because Ranger was not the domestic type. Ranger was my wild card.


	5. Chapter 5

As always, i do not own the characters.

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for your reviews! I love reading them, it makes my day! You are all helping me get through my midterms week and I am sorry I can not give you longer chapters at this time, I'm writing between classes...and during them occasionally :) but I am trying.

Thank you again, and HAPPY LEAP DAY!

* * *

CHPT 5

"Are You going to call Ranger? Because if you aren't, I don't want to call him. The man scares me. He is intimidating in his sexiness."

"Nobody is calling Ranger." Oh boy, we made a mess out of this one.

"You sure are lucky that man wants you. Because I don't know any other man who would put up with you continuously destroying his cars. He must have damn good insurance, that or a lot of money. Oh, I hadn't thought of that before. Ranger might be rich. Sexy and rich. If you don't want him I'll take him"

"I thought you met your soul mate, future husband. He made you fried chicken."

"Yah, but money can buy me a whole lot of chicken and Via Spigas and Louies! Besides, he snores. And Ranger don't snore, I can tell"

"How can you tell he doesn't snore, maybe he does and its super annoying and you would never get sleep. Maybe he snores so loud Rangeman installed soundproof walls in the bat cave."

That was a lie of course, Ranger never snored, he was a quiet sleeper and never even moved around. Unlike me who was known to sprawl out and make sheet angels in her sleep. Occasionally Ranger had bad dreams but he either would wake up and go out to the kitchen to recoup, or just pull me tight against his chest until his breathing settled and he could fall back to sleep.

"I could buy ear plugs. That body is worth it. Those muscles poppin out of his shirt. Mmmmm, I'd like to have those."

And she didn't even know the half of them.

"We are going to call Connie, Vinnie should be back from his retreat by now. And she can have her cousin pick up the car. And you can tell Ranger how it ended up in a pile of cow manure personally."

"Hell no, I'm not telling Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome his hundred thousand dollar supped up bullet proof car is swimming in cow poop. You can tell him, he won't even get mad if you tell him."

No, he wouldn't get mad, he would be amused. He might get that crease between his eyebrows for a moment when he thinks of how he is going to write this one of, but he won't get mad.

"Call Connie," I told Lula then paced on the gravel alongside the paved street. This was getting old, this is also why I didn't want to borrow another Rangeman car. Granted this time it wasn't my fault, Lula had been the one driving.

My phone buzzed in my hand mid-way through my pacing. The caller ID read _Rangeman_.

"Hello?" I answered hesitantly, sighing as I awaited the inevitable.

"Babe, Hal tells me you are stationary in the middle of I-95. You ok?"

"Yep, just peachy."

"Ok, if you need anything let me or the guys know"

"Thanks Ranger, but I've got it. Lula and I are after a skip."

"Cinderella?" He asked jokingly. This made me smile, how could I not? His playful attitude melted me to my core every time.

"Yea, Cinderella has left the carriage and nearly turned into a pumpkin." This actually wasn't far from the truth. He had fled the black Rangeman carriage mid motion and landed in a field freshly fertilized and tilled under, perfect growing soil for pumpkins I assume. Ranger chuckled on the other side of the line.

"Steph." One word, as always, but it held a question in it. My guess? He knew about the car. How? I have no clue, but he knew.

"Yes"

"Would you like me to send Santos instead?"

I glanced over to Lula.

"Connie didn't pick up, line was busy. I'm getting hungry, we're gonna starve, I warned you! I knew this would happen." She was eating the last donut hyperventilating.

"Lula sounds distressed Babe, you sure you're ok?" Ranger's protective voice set in and I knew I was losing the battle.

"She is just coming off her sugar high…but Santos isn't a bad idea, maybe he could pick Lula up and take her home, if he is not too busy at the office. But I really can handle this on my own, I don't need Rangeman backup."

"Babe"

Ugh, how does he do that? One word! I sighed, thanked him and disconnected.

"Lula, Santos is on his way to rescue you."

"Oh thank the lord! If I don't get food soon I might faint. I might pass out here on the side of the road and crows will eat my Via Spigas!"

"You have a donut in your hand, and I doubt crows have an interest in your shoes."

"You never know, they might be fashionable crows, gemstone loving fools ready to pick off any possible remnants of these beautiful babies."

I rolled my eyes.

* * *

Lester pulled up next to us in less than half an hour. He climbed out of the Rangeman SUV with a long slow whistle.

"Don't-say-a-word" I warned.

He just smiled at me and continued to assess the submerged car.

"Ranger told me I was just picking up Daisy over there." He gestured toward Lula in her bright yellow sundress and matching yellow hair. He was going to regre-

"What'd you call me?" Lula stomped over angrily.

Lester, without missing a beat, charmed his way through his slip up, "I called you a beautiful vibrant flower _ma Cherie_."

Lula batted her eyelashes at him and smiled.

"Oh you're good."

"For you ma beauté, anything." He gave a slight bow in Lula's direction.

Wait a minute, that wasn't Spanish. Lula climbed into the SUV muttering about sore feet and an appetite and Santos smiled at me amused.

"That was a close one." He laughed.

"Were you speaking French?" I wasn't bilingual, but it sounded French to me.

"Oui, mon amour. I'm taking a night class. Please don't tell Ranger."

"Why don't you want Ranger to know, I'm sure multilingual is a selling point for your job."

"Yes, if the class were just on language. But it's a cooking class also. And there is fashion lessons too. It's kind of a private hobby."

"Nothing is private at Rangeman Santos." He knew I was right but he just shrugged.

"Let's get old faithful out of the cow patties." He gestured toward the sunken car now and picked up his phone. "Don't worry, I won't call the boss. I'll let you tell him in person later. Maybe after its been thoroughly cleaned."

"Thank you."

"Can I know what happened?"

"You only want to know because you and the guys have a pot going on all the ways I can destroy the next car."

"True, but it's also curiosity. You are the best entertainment we've got." He chuckled. I knew he wasn't making fun of me, he and the other men at Rangeman, at least the main crew, looked after me and genuinely cared I believe.

"I'm glad I can entertain you all." I sighed in defeat.


	6. Chapter 6

OK, so first I apologize for being absent, second this is a very short chapter but I am currently composing the next one and hope to have it up later tonight and Ranger will be in it I promise! Third I just finished Tricky Twenty Two...I am soooooo mad! So I had to write to forget the ending. I dont have anything against Morelli, I just prefer Ranger... a lot. So without further ado, here is a quick snippet to tide you over until I finish the next installment.

As always, I don't own the characters

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews, I apologize I cannot respond to them all, I just work full time and I am a full time student so I have to manage my time somewhere, but please know that I appreciate them greatly!

* * *

We dropped Lula off at the office after swinging through Cluck-n-a-Bucket. Santos turned to face me and a smile spread across his face.

"You want me to take you to the boss man or am I taking you home to hide?"

"I'd prefer to hide." I sighed and sat back in my seat.

"Would you like help with your capture? I have the day off tomorrow, I can have Hal run some addresses and help secure the guy."

"Thank you Lester, but I'm taking the day off tomorrow also. And I really have to do this one on my own."

"I get it, but I'm here if you need me." He put the car into drive and pulled back out onto the street.

"Thank you for understanding I said," looking out the window at nothing in particular, just thinking blankly as the building passed by. We were at my apartment in no time; I thanked Lester and walked myself up to my apartment. I was about to put my key into my door when the door swung open.

"Young lady where have you been. Marianne Viltuski's sister's cousin saw you on the side of I-95 in a field! Marianne's daughter works at the veterinary clinic downtown answering phones, why can't my daughter have a normal job. Why can't my daughter be married?"

"She almost was." My grandmother piped in from somewhere behind my mother who was taking up the entire doorway, glaring at me.

I pushed past her into my apartment and heard her semi-slam the door behind us.

"But Joseph got some girl knocked up and now he's the one getting married, that wedding should have been your wedding." Grandma Mazur pointed at me and I let out the hundredth heavy sigh of the day.

My mother took in a sharp breath, "It _should_ have been _your_ wedding. It was supposed to be your wedding." She stopped for a moment and then looked straight at me again with fervor in her eyes, "It still could be her wedding Mother." She glanced toward my liquor cabinet, not that there was normally anything in it. She had no idea I had had it fully stocked these days, mostly of wine and chocolate, but stocked none the less.

"It's not too late to get him back, put on a dress and march yourself over to his house. That man loves you!"

"We've had this discussion Mother, Morelli and I are over." I interjected.

"I don't care if you love him or not, I don't even care that he had some illegitimate child; you would make a good stepmother, and Joseph has a responsible job and a house and even a dog. It's past time you settled down Stephanie." She looked calmer now and thought she had put reason into my head.

I heaved a sigh and gave a direct "Mother, drop it"

She looked horrified, taken aback as though I'd just slapped her.

"That a girl Stephanie!" My grandmother shouted, swinging her arm and fist in a _'good job'_ pendulum motion. My mother stood wide mouthed.

"He is marrying another woman, it's over" I finished.

Yes, I loved him, Morelli and I had a long history together. Morelli had relieved me of my virginity and introduced me to the world of awkward sex and later on, the world of amazing sex. Yes, four months ago we were _'engaged to be engaged'_. But there was never a ring and there were never vows, and there would never be either for us. And I was finally okay with that. That does not mean I am ready to go to his wedding and watch him kiss someone that was not me. And I couldn't go solo, that would look bad and the entire population of Trenton would be talking about me. And who would I take? Ranger? Morelli would be pissed, he hates Ranger; and as mad as I once was at Morelli for this pain I had endured via our breakup, I couldn't do that to him.

"Please go home" I looked to my mother and grandmother. I don't know if it was my stubborn treatment of her or the look that I could feel on my face of complete defeat and sadness, but my mother didn't say another word as she and grandma exited my apartment.

"Tell me all about that trip you had today later; I'm sure there's a pip of a story behind it." Grandma waved goodbye as she closed the door behind them. I wandered over to my couch and fell into it face first, letting out a muffled scream…or was it a cry? Into the cushions.


	7. Chapter 7

As promised, here it is. I needed a Ranger moment after reading 22. Hope you like it. Sorry about the random grandma/mother invasion, just something that popped into my head. I thought Stephanie's mother would probably be taking the news of Morelli's 'unavaliableness' quite badly. Considering she wants to marry Steph off at all costs and all. :)

* * *

I had taken a shower and returned to my position on the couch after. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up with my face still buried in the couch cushions. There was a knock at my door, I considered ignoring it. Whoever it was could go away. There wasn't anyone I wanted to see right now and I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to see me in the state I was in. I could feel my still damp hair misshapen in all directions and though I had showered, I hadn't exactly removed all of my makeup so that too was probably a mess. Nope, not today. I rolled back over and put a throw pillow over my head.

The pillow was extracted from my head and I sat up startled,

Ranger.

I hadn't even heard the door open.

"I didn't mean to startle you Babe."

I blinked at him for a moment. He was taking in my current state and props to him he didn't make any readable signs of disgust.

"I'm sorry about the car."

"Forget the car, are you ok?" He looked down at me awaiting an answer. He was a patient man and would probably stand there for hours if I let him.

"I'm fine. And Lula is supposed to explain the car." I pulled my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them and resting my chin to my knees. I'm not sure why, but I felt slightly insecure with my state and allowing Ranger to see me this way. He took this as an invite to sit next to me.

As he placed his hand on my back just below my neck I involuntarily flinched. I didn't mean to, I was just in a protected stance and it was just a natural movement. Ranger however snapped his hand back to his own space and looked at me quizzically.

"Babe."

One word. It held a question I could see developing in his eyes.

"We found Cinderella at his sister's cottage in Newark, We caught him sleeping so I snuck up on him, cuffed him, and before he knew what was going on Lula and I shoved him into the SUV and headed towards Trenton. I let Lula drive so that I could call Connie and let her know we were on our way. I guess I was so excited that everything had worked out so well that I forgot to secure his ankle shackles in your car and somehow he managed to slide into the front seat, he had also picked the cuff lock with something he had on him and so when he appeared in the front seat Lula swerved around the road. Luckily it wasn't rush hour and the few cars on the road managed to avoid her. Lula doesn't see very well, she is supposed to wear glasses but she doesn't like the way they look with most of her outfits so she doesn't wear them. She tried contacts but it freaked her out to touch her own eye. So when she swerved to miss a car she managed to send the SUV into a spiral. Cinderella bailed out my door. I had my seat belt on; otherwise I may have been drug out with him. I'm sure he is going to feel the impact of his exit for a few days, if not weeks. So needless to say we plummeted off the side of the road…. The SUV careened towards the cow pasture and straight into the drainage ditch into four foot deep mud made from months, maybe years, of cow feces build up." I looked down at the floor. "I'm really sorry Ranger; I don't know how this always happens to me.

Why did I flinch from his touch? In truth, his touch is what I needed. Not in a sexual way, but in a securing way. I needed him to ground me like I had grounded him all those times his head was messed up, all those nights he woke from night terrors.

As if he read my mind he slowly attempted to brush his hand across my forearm closest to him. The movement was calculated and hesitant like a child testing the temperature of the water before getting in. I leaned ever so slightly, so slightly that no one could probably even see the movement of my body, so that the backs of his fingers pressed against me.

I chanced a look up at him just as he pulled me into his chest, knees and all, with his arms encircling me and his cheek rested against the top of my head. The movement was fluid and as I settled into his chest my body let off a tension I hadn't noticed had gotten so tight.

"Babe, I don't care about the car. I don't care about Lula not wearing her glasses. I'm just glad you're safe. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

"But you didn't send me on this case, it was my own stupidity." I snuffled, where did that come from? I wasn't crying. It must have been left over from my earlier emotional tide.

Ranger didn't answer, he just held me tightly against him. I felt for the first time in months as if I was going to be ok, that I was on my own two feet and secure. I felt as if the worries and stress I had built up was evaporated into Ranger's black tight fitting t-shirt.

"I'm sorry, my Mother and Grandmother broke into my apartment earlier and ambushed me. And it's that time of the month and today's fiasco was just too much excitement for one day I guess." Why did I just say that? Ranger didn't need to know that I was menstruating.

Wait, how did they get in? Morelli was the only one with a key to my apartment, and I had gotten that back months ago.

I made a mental note to ask Grandma how they managed the break in, though I was slightly afraid to know the answer.

I pulled myself up straighter; Ranger loosened his hold a little on me but kept me in place for the most part.

"Does it have anything to do with the event we don't speak of?" I assume he was implying Morelli's wedding so I just nodded.

"Would you like to go get something to eat? If you don't want to get out I can pick up take out or call Ella and have her whip something up at Rangeman. I'll have my men switch off the cameras so you don't have to worry about them seeing you."

Was he implying that I looked like hell?

"No, I'm fine." I shrugged out of his arms and slid further away from him on the couch.

His posture changed again to a more rigid frame at first, but to my surprise softened moments later.

Silence filled the air for what felt like eternity. Ranger was analyzing me and it was making me uncomfortable.

"Look Ranger, I…" He cut me off though.

"Babe, you don't have to explain. I understand you have been through a lot these past months. No one was more surprised than me at how everything turned out. And you need to take time to configure where your head is at. I'm not trying to infer anything. I am just trying to be a friend. If you need me to step back, I will" He grazed the backs of his fingers so softly down my arm I barely felt them, "But don't push me away because you think I expect something from you." I could feel him looking at me but I remained tucked into myself, looking at the floor.

"This event we are not speaking of is going to be hard for you. I want you to know that I have your back. If you need a date, I'm there. If you want someone that is not me, I'll assign one of my men to escort you. If you want to fly to Tahiti or Timbuktu to avoid it, I'll make it happen." He gently tipped my chin so that our eyes met. "Babe, don't beat yourself up about this. You love that man and it is ripping your heart to pieces. Just don't let that trauma get to your head. I'm not telling you to forget it, or forget him. Just don't let this pain transform you. You are beautiful and strong and will make it through this. It won't be easy. And I know a little of what you are feeling. Just keep that pretty chin of yours held high and know that you are not alone in this."

He brushed a quick, ever so soft, kiss across my lips that felt more like wind on my lips than a kiss against them; then walked to the door.

"Call me if you need me, or if you just don't want to sit alone. And I'm serious about Tahiti, and you don't even have to feel obligated to let me join you." He gave me one last concerned but reassuring look, then exited. Leaving me alone to weigh what was just laid out between us. I still felt tension and my nerves were still on high alert, but all of it was noticeably better than before Ranger had appeared. Ranger's presence had calmed me and I was grateful to him for that.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am SO sorry for my absence. Please don't hate me. I started working on this story again, unfortunately I began working on later chapters but I am trying to fill in the blanks. Here is a short new chapter, I didn't take much time to edit so I apologize in advance, but I was too excited to post an update.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. The story is from my own imagination.**

The next morning I awoke with a headache radiating from a kink in my neck, throbbing so hard that my vision was blurred. I walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee, said good morning to Rex then rushed to the bathroom. I took my migraine medications and stepped into the shower trying to alleviate some of the pain with hot water.

The water ran over my face and the stress of the past few months, especially the past couple of days, came rushing back in one fell swoop. I let the tears go, no way was that flood gate going to work now. I have a FTA on the loose that has made a fool out of me at every chance he has gotten. My grandmother and my MOTHER of all people broke into my house! I once had two men in my life, and in my mind I still do but one is off limits and the other is a complete mystery and should be classified as off limits. My heart was trying to let go of Morelli, it had begun months before Gigi had returned. Maybe it had begun that day in the Tasty Pastry when Morelli had taken my virginity then left with that devilish smile on his face without another word. Maybe my heart was driving when I had ran him over with a car and broken his leg all those years ago. Had my heart ever truly loved Morelli?

Yes. Who was I kidding? I had loved Morelli with all of my heart and he still holds a place there and always will. The question becomes, am I ready to accept that fact knowing I cannot love him in a Romantic fashion ever again? Yes, because I had distanced that part of our relationship as far back as the first time I slept with Ranger.

Ranger. Ranger was a whole new category of crazy in terms of my heart. Ranger was the man of mystery, my Batman. Ranger told me time and again that he was not emotionally available for a relationship; that it would never work. Ranger kept me around for entertainment. Hell, he even kept an account open for me labeled as such. His accountant probably made fun of me on a daily basis; I know his men find me amusing. He isn't available so why am I even contemplating him. He is now the only man in my life in any sense of the romantic type, yet he is the farthest thing from romantic. Or was he?

Ranger could be very romantic, but a romantic relationship that led to commitment….marriage…. that was out of the picture for him and I knew it.

But recently my heart was trying to sway me to believe that that wasn't true. Recently Ranger had shown another side of himself I hadn't ran into often at all. Ranger was always a loyal, dedicated, and protective friend. Recently he had compassion that I had claimed uncharacteristic of him if you had asked me last year. He even commented that sometimes he thought of marrying me, until he got yet another black mark on his conscience. He had covered it up saying he thought of sharing his closet with me, but even that was more commitment than I had ever expected. If I had to be completely honest, I was more thrilled from the thought of sharing Ranger's closet than I had been about being "engaged to be engaged" to Morelli.

The love I had for Morelli was a comfort, something I felt I could always fall back on and be content. The love I had for Ranger was a passion, one that often scared me because I had no clue how to deal with it. Ranger knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it, but he had always sent me back to Morelli with the excuse that I was better off there. Now that there was no Morelli to send me back to, what would he do if we were to push our relationship? What would he do when he became uncomfortable with it again because relationships were not something he did? Could he love me the way I love him? I know he loves me, he has told me more than once, it is the extent he is willing to act on that that remains a mystery.

My phone rang next to the bathroom sink. I switched off the water and grabbed my towel, peaking at the screen. I sighed and answered the phone.

"Hey Connie, I'll be in shortly."

"No need, I've got an address for you. Tank said he was on his way over to pick you up and that I should call and give you a heads up."

"What? Tank? Why?" I wrapped the towel around me and headed towards my bedroom.

"Ask him when he gets there, I assume ranger sent him after the stunt you and Lula pulled yesterday with his SUV." She disconnected and I sighed. Pulling my brush through my hair I skipped the blow dryer and hair tie due to my headache, it would be a frizzy mess later but maybe I could make it through the day without my head exploding. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black formfitting t-shirt out of my dresser and got dressed. I might as well dress the part since I was being escorted by a Rangeman employee today.

I heard the knock at my door and went to answer it, still towel drying my hair. Tank looked a little worried as I swung the door open.

"Hey Steph, I know you told Lester you were taking the day off and you told ranger you didn't want help. But I found the guy's car and Connie found his new address and they matched so I knew you would want to go after him and I didn't want you to go alone since it's on Stark." HE gave me an apologetic smile.

"Ranger didn't want me to go alone." I corrected.

"We both agreed you should have backup. He's not the only one that cares about your safety Steph, you're like a little sister to me you know." His smile broadened and I half expected him to ruffle my hair or something except this was tank, shy and quiet tank who I hadn't expected an admission like this from. Man these Rangeman men were full of surprises in the emotional department lately.

"Thank you Tank, you mean a lot to me too." I smiled back. "Let me grab my purse and boots and I will be ready to go.

On the way to stark we stopped at the drive through to grab breakfast. Tank ordered a breakfast sandwich I knew Ranger would not have approved of, I joked about him volunteering to take me today so that he could eat real food instead of the health conscious menu he would be stuck with at the office. The address ended up being a bust for today, the apartment was empty and the car had since left. Tank apologized and called in Hal to set up a security feed that would alert us if he returned. I was somewhat glad that the location was empty; I just wasn't feeling up to a complicated catch today.

"You want me to drop you off at home now? Or do you have another skip I can assist you with. I'm in no rush to get back to the office today." Tank smiled.

"Take me home, I'm calling it a day."

Tank's phone range as we pulled into my parking lot. I smiled and waved at him as I climbed out of the Cheyanne but he held out a hand for me to wait a minute. He briefly acknowledged the person on the other end then snapped his phone shut.

"Your FTA just crossed the border Steph. I'm sorry."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Ranger and he has something he wants to talk to you about, he's on his way over."

"Thanks for the warning. And thank you for the help with my skip, I guess have Connie transfer it over to Ranger, the bond is pretty high so I'm sure Vinny with authorize you guys to go pick him up." I didn't even care at this point. Normally I would have asked Vinnie to go myself, knowing he would say no, but it never stopped me from trying. But I was not up for a cross country trip right now to whatever border he had just crossed. I was ready to go back to sleep and hope for a better day tomorrow.

Letting myself into my apartment I turned on the table light next to the couch, avoiding the bright overhead lights due to my still present migraine. I threw on a pair of pink plaid girl boxers and a pink cami, brushed my teeth and curled up on the couch. It wasn't long before I heard Ranger let himself in and settle next to me on the couch. He silently turned off the table lamp and gently pulled my hair off my neck as he ran his hand over it before sliding me onto his lap so he could rub my shoulders.

The contact instantly began soothing my throbbing headache as he massaged the base of my head and down to my shoulder blades.

"That works better than any migraine meds I have ever taken." I admitted. I had had my fair share of migraines and headaches over the years. I normally took the meds prescribed to me and shut myself in a dark cool room until I could sleep it off. I had no idea that another person could work them away like this.

"If it is caused by tension, the release of that tension from your muscles will help. You are too tense Babe" he replied, never stopping his work on my neck, head, and shoulders. I may have moaned slightly a few times, it felts really good.

I let him continue this for an indeterminate time before I spoke again, my migraine gone and only a slight headache and fog remaining.

"Tank said you had something to tell me."

"Shhh, it can wait. Go to sleep"

"Go ahead and tell me now, I can handle it."

"It's not important"

"Is it the skip? Tank told me about him, you can have him now."

"Cinderella can think he has won for now, he's with his brother in Canada. He won't go anywhere; we can pick him up later."

"Are you going in the wind again?" I asked hesitantly.

"Babe"

"Oh." If he could give one word answers, so could I. Besides, what could I say? Don't go, I need you? No, I couldn't say that so why say anything? He wrapped his arm around me, a sheltering movement that felt protective.

"No. Morelli asked me to be security at his wedding. Apparently he ticked off Cal Montenegro, Jersey Mob boss, in an undercover case he worked a few months back and he's worried about an appearance at the event."

Oh, I wasn't expecting that. Morelli asked Ranger for help? He was hiring Ranger to be at his wedding? After all of the times he complained about Ranger's business and credibility? Was the world truly ending?

"If you don't want me to be there, I will send my men. But I have to take the job. If for no other reason than you are attending." He fell silent.

"What? What do I have to do with you taking the job?"

"Babe" And that was my answer. He would take the job to keep me safe. Because he thought this mob boss was a threat and didn't want me endangered. It wasn't that he didn't want me going with someone else, or that he wanted to keep an eye on me, but because my safety was at stake in his eyes. And there was no arguing that.

"Okay" was all I replied. He went back to stroking my shoulders and I let him until I fell asleep. I awoke as he was laying me in my bed and tucking me in. I made eye contact with him and reached up to cup his face.

"Stay?" he pressed his cheek into my palm before he stepped back and pulled his shirt over his head. He slid out of his pants and climbed under the covers next to me pulling me to his chest. I snuggled into his chest and instantly fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.


	9. Chapter 9

I awoke the next morning to the scent of Bvlgari shower gel, I stretched my arms across the bed but it was empty. I hesitated to open my eyes, knowing I would find the empty place next to me in the bed. Had I been dreaming last night? I forced my eyes open to confirm my arms had not missed him. The sheets were pulled tight over me and laid flat as if no one had slept there, but there was a vase of the tiniest daisies sitting on the night stand on what was Ranger's side of the bed.

The man had never given me flowers. Even when I was a bridesmaid and had to carry flowers down the aisle he had made a remark about how he was allergic to many stem flowers. Yet here was a large vase of delicate white and yellow flowers with a simple notecard leaning against them scrawled in what I knew was Ranger's handwriting. I ran my fingers across one of the tiny flowers as I read his note.

"Babe,

Had to take care of an account, didn't want to wake you. Breakfast is in the kitchen.

P.S.

These are feverfews, they are used to relieve headaches. Just in case yours lingered."

Breakfast? I climbed out of bed and padded into the kitchen. My headache was long gone and I felt as if I had slept well for the first time in weeks, which I had. On the counter was a small pink pastry box. I opened it to find a Boston Cream. I went to the fridge to see if there was anything in it and found a tray of fruit and a selection of juices. Leave it to Ranger to leave me healthy options when tempting me with sweets. I gave Rex a piece of Strawberry, he peaked out of his soup can just long enough to grab the fruit and hide again.

Pulling out my phone I dialed Ranger.

"Babe" his voice had an amused undertone that made me smile.

"Thank you." A simple response to his simple hello. I can't remember the last time I had received flowers or breakfast in bed. Okay, so it wasn't in bed. Ranger had purposefully made me get out of bed this morning with the temptation of breakfast, but it was close enough.

"You're Welcome. Let me guess, you have the doughnut in your hand?"

"Did you expect anything different?" Two could play this game.

"Babe" It was refreshing to hear him use his extensive Babe vocabulary again. And the smile that had crossed my face this morning did nothing but grow bigger.

"Everything okay at the office?" I asked as I took a bite of the doughnut, my mouth watering. Where on Earth did he get this magnificent creation?

"Yes. You know, I can make you moan like that too. Want me to come back over?" He teased. I stopped mid-chew, obviously I had vocalized my satisfaction of the doughnut out loud. My face turned six sheets of red.

"I'm okay." I mumbled before completely swallowing my mouthful of doughnut. Ranger just chuckled.

"I'm finishing up the paperwork; I have some free time this afternoon. Then I have to run recon at the funeral home tonight. Will you be my date?"

"You need a woman to patrol the ladies room again?"

"Possibly, but mostly I just like the company."

"Oh, okay. What time will you be by to pick me up?"

"Four, it's an early viewing and we can grab dinner on our way over. Wear the black dress."

We disconnected and I resumed eating my Boston Cream. It was eleven o'clock; I really had gotten a full night's sleep along with a partial morning. I decided to head over to the bonds office to see Connie and Lula and check for any new skips.

"Well look who the cat dragged in." Vinnie passed me on the sidewalk carrying a to-go bag in front of the office.

"Don't start with me Vinnie, or I'll tell Lucille you were at Stevie's Tuesday Night instead of your meeting." Stevie's was the local gentlemen's club Vinnie frequented. If his wife knew, she would have her dad, Harry the Hammer, make it impossible for Vinnie to ever again enjoy himself in that way.

"Got anything new for me?" I asked Connie as I bypassed Vinnie in the doorway with his mouth open.

"She done told you." Lulu added.

"Get to work; I don't pay you to harass me." Vinnie stormed into his office slamming the door.

"Someone done peed on his Cheerios this morning." Lula stood hands on hips in her snow leopard print spandex and purple sequins top that showed a little too much of her girls off.

"Stephanie ran into him last week when she picked up Tom Versuchi at Stevie's" Connie explained.

"That would do it, you threaten to tell his wife again?" She asked me, pointing her finger in my direction. I nodded and walked over to Connie's desk.

"It's a slow week, nothing new. Sorry Steph." Connie apologized.

"That's okay, I've got a Rangeman job tonight."

"Ooooooh, you got a Rangeman job? Or a _Range man_ job?" Lula wiggled her eyebrows.

"It's a security detail at a viewing." I scoffed. Lula snuck her nose closer to me and lifted my hair.

"You smell like man, and I don't mean just any man, you smell like Ranger. You been doing the dirty with him? It's about time! Haven't I told you you need to move on and tap that?"

"I am not sleeping with Ranger!" I interrupted her.

"Not in the way you just described. But maybe I can help convince her" I heard the chimes over the door, but it had been too late. I slowly turned around to look at the door and nearly bumped into him.

"Hey Babe" He smiled.

Connie let out a long slow whistle and my face revisited those six shades of red they had been this morning, except this time much worse. All I could do was sigh in defeat.

"Here's the file you requested." Connie held a file out for Ranger. He leaned towards the desk with his chest in front of me; his body grazed mine in the motion causing a static electricity effect to overcome me. Ranger just smiled.

"Don't forget the black dress tonight." With one last look over his shoulders he smiled his 200 watt smiles and left the building.

Lula began fanning herself heavily with her hand. "I about passed out from the sexual tension that man exudes. He is one FINE work of art. What is wrong with you Stephanie? That man wants to make you sing and you just let him walk on out of here. If I were you I would run after him and do him in the street, I wouldn't care who is watching. I wouldn't even care if I went to jail for naked exposure."

"It's indecent exposure!" Vinnie called from his office.

"You would know! You done been caught for it before!" Lula yelled back. Actually, Vinnie had not been charged with indecent exposure, though this was to all of our surprise.

"She knows very well what Ranger is capable of. And honey, you do smell like Ranger." Connie gave me a sideways knowing smile.

"It's complicated." I argued.

"It always has been, but if you don't tell that man how you feel soon, you might implode." Connie had a point. The electric feeling Ranger had left me with was still buzzing over my body. If only I could get my brain to catch up to it.


	10. Chapter 10

_Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to update again. Hope you like the next installment. As always, I don't own the characters and don't pretend to, I just test drive them. And I want to Thank you all for your kind reviews! They brighten my day. I'm always up for suggestions also :)_

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I returned to my apartment around two giving myself a couple of hours to prepare for the evening. I tapped on Rex's cage to say hello and he peeked his head out of his soup can squinting his shiny black eyes at me and wiggling his nose and whiskers. I dropped a couple of Cheerios into his cage and he snatched them up immediately shoving them into his cheeks and retreating back into his soup can.

Two hours later I was showered and dressed in my short black cocktail dress with my two inch black healed dress shoes on. No way was I wearing my FMPs to a viewing! No matter how hot Ranger was in one of his perfectly tailored black suits I know he would wear.

I applied mouse to my hair to help tame the inevitable frizz that would occur with today's humidity and finished a light layer of makeup. I was applying a natural toned lip gloss when I caught Ranger's eyes staring back at me in the mirror. I jumped, you would think I would be use to this and not startle as much.

"Babe" It was an appraising tone this time as he looked me up and down slowly.

"It feels like you are undressing me with your eyes right now."

"That's because I am." His lips curves at one side as his eye met mine again. I turned around to face him and my breath caught at the closeness of him. Breathing in slowly his scent soaked into my senses as I returned the assessing gesture looking him up and down. Someone sighed, it might have been me.

"If we don't get going I'm gonna have to call Hal and have him pick up Santos." I was thinking of a similar solution as well. Ranger was in deed wearing one of his expensive perfectly fitting black suits with a crisp white dress shirt and black tie. His hair was slicked back into its usual pony tail and he smelled heavenly of Bvlgari and Ranger. The man had his own distinct smell that worked my hormones into a frenzy.

"mhm, yep, lets go." I grabbed my clutch off the sink and headed towards the door fixing my shoe as I walked, not looking back at Ranger until I reached the door. His arm was at my side as he opened the door for me and gestured for me to go first. Always the perfect gentleman.

This was something that differed from Morelli, Ranger opened and held doors for me, pulled out my seat for me at restaurants, and held my hand when we entered classy events to show me off. Morelli would occasionally open a beer for me and let me pick a spot on the couch first, but he wasn't the chivalrous type in general. This had always been okay for me because I didn't expect nor need chivalrous, but I had to admit…. It was kind of thrilling in a way when Ranger did it.

"Earth to Babe" Apparently I had stopped in the hallway to contemplate my thought and was blocking Ranger's forward motion as well.

"I'm ready." I said quickly, embarrassed, as I rushed towards the elevator.

We drove into Hamilton and at a new Italian restaurant. Ranger ordered wine for us both and a salad for himself. I ordered the Pasta Rigatoni and prayed I wouldn't get any on my dress. We sat quietly enjoying each other's company while we awaited our food. I would catch Ranger looking at me often and I would blush. It amazed me after all this time that he still made me feel like a teenager in love with just one look.

Our dinners arrived and he smiled at my plate.

"What?" I asked accusingly.

"Nothing, I just don't know where you put it all." His smile gave a hint of laughter.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," I poked.

"As you should."

"So what type of recon are we doing tonight?" I asked to change the subject.

"Katie Jefferson is the CEO of Jefferson Incorporated, her father Leo was murdered last week in his townhouse. Cops have no leads and Katie received a threatening letter two days ago pertaining to the business. Someone is demanding she closes the doors to the company or she will be next. Katie refuses to give into the demands but has hired Rangeman to keep her safe and look for more leads until the killer is behind bars." Ranger watched me for my reaction.

"So do we have any leads?" I asked. Knowing that Rangeman probably had more ways to look into the murder than Trenton PD had probably tried.

"My guess is Michael Brontë, a local business man who excels in collecting dying businesses to give himself a monopoly on services."

"How dangerous are we talking?" I asked.

"Don't be alone with anyone tonight and you will be fine." Ranger warned.

"Does that include you?"

"That depends; do you want to be alone with me?"

"We are alone now."

"No, we are in a restaurant full of people; if you want to be alone we can go back to my apartment, or yours." He smiled, I swallowed and a wave of desire traveled straight to my doodah.

The viewing went as smoothly as dinner, Grandma Mazur sat at the front of the room and didn't attempt to touch, poke, or examine the deceased more than usual and no gun fire occurred. I was assigned to Katie, a tall beautiful brunette with stunning blue eyes and a great figure. When Ranger had introduced me she gave me a quick once over but politely extended her hand for me to shake. By the end of the evening my feet were sore from my heels and I had fantasized three different ways to get Ranger alone and out of his suit.

"How long have you two been dating?" Katie asked me. The last of the receiving line had cleared and she finally had a break from hugging and accepting condolences.

"Excuse me?"

"You and Ranger" she tipped her head in his direction, Ranger was standing guard at the door and currently listening to my grandmother rave on about something. Oh no, it was never good to leave Grandma alone with Ranger, especially after the incident at the Monkey themed Casino awhile back. Ever since Grandma had seen Ranger naked, she was determined to 'feel for herself' just how tight he was in certain places.

"Babe" I heard Ranger over the coms, he sounded desperate.

"We're not dating, can you excuse me for a moment. I need to reign in my Grandmother."

Katie smiled at me and I quickly walked over to Ranger.

"Grandma, do you need a ride home?" I asked, slowly placing myself between her and Ranger.

"No. Mable and I are going to Bingo at the Senior Center after this! Don't you just love early viewing? I want an early viewing too, more people are willing to attend on account of you don't miss your television shows when the viewing is early enough."

"I can arrange that" Ranger spoke under his breath.

"What was that?" Grandma asked loudly, thank heavens for partial hearing loss at times like these.

"I said that makes perfect sense." Ranger corrected.

"That's my ride! Gotta go!" Grandma walked out of the funeral home and got into Mable's old white Lincoln.

"you okay?" I asked Ranger once Grandma had safely pulled away.

"She pinched my ass again Babe." He grimaced.

"Sorry, I'll try better next time to ward her off."

Katie came rushing over to us in a panic.

"Steven just called, someone burned down his house and left an awful letter staked in his front lawn." Katie threw herself into Ranger's chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and crying into his suit jacket. I hate to admit it brought a pang of jealousy to me even though I knew she was distressed and scared.

"Hal,"

"Yes Boss, Im outside now" Hal responded over the coms.

Ranger ushered us outside and into the awaiting SUV.

"Hal will take you both home. Katie, a Rangeman detail will be with you and the security system is up and running. Babe."

"I'm going with you." I responded, refusing to get into the SUV. Ranger took a deep breath and was about to argue when I closed the door and leaned in to tell Hal to have a good evening. He nodded to me then looked to Ranger.

"Make sure the perimeter is clear before you go in and check for tails." Ranger instructed Hal before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward his Porsche 911 Turbo.

He opened my door letting me sink down into the car before closing the door and, for lack of better reference, stormed to his side. The car was in motion before he was completely seated and he stared straight out the window silently driving.

"Who's Steven?" I Asked, I felt it was safer to discuss the job instead of the elephant in the room, my stubbornness.

"VP of Jefferson Incorporated, Katie's partner. He has two kids." This made me gulp, Ranger still had his eyes on the road, driving in and out of traffic. The Turbo moved in stealth mode seamlessly through the night. The Fall weather was brisk and daylight shortened, it was only seven in the evening but pitch dark. I saw the light from the fire above the houses almost two blocks away, fire trucks and ambulances had the road blocked off as we reached it. Ranger threw the car into park and jumped out. I wasn't quite as fast as him but was close on his heels.

The three story mansion of a home was engulfed in flames and firefighters were actively trying to put it out with hoses and what looked like a fog machine, though obviously not a fog machine.

I grabbed the edge of Ranger's suit jacket so I wouldn't lose him as he walked quickly toward the caution line through a collection of people I assumed were neighbors watching the tragedy unfold. His hand slid down and grasped mine as he pulled me through the crowd.

In light of the current situation I didn't look too much into this gesture and what feelings I may have had were swept away as we reached the group of officers and bumped into Ranger as he stopped because Morelli was staring at us and I stopped paying attention to where I was going.

"What are you doing here?" Morelli snapped. He looked distressed, more so than normal and lately that was saying something.

"Mr. Callahan is my client." Ranger let go of my hand and straightened his posture in a domineering way.

"Of course he is." Morelli didn't sound happy about it but he lifted the caution tape nonetheless.

I ducked under the tape after Ranger and Morelli held his arm out blocking me from following him. Ranger hesitated for a moment, how did he do that? The man had spider senses obviously, to know I wasn't behind him anymore. I looked from him to Morelli and back again.

Morelli cleared his throat and met my eyes when I looked at him.

"Do you have a minute?" Morelli asked. I glanced back to Ranger who had his unreadable work face on. He nodded and walked away toward a man sitting in the back of an open ambulance.

I looked back at Morelli. He looked over to Ranger and then down at the ground.

"You're seeing him now?" The way he said it didn't sound much like a question, but more like a statement.

"I'm not seeing anyone, not that its any of your business." I scoffed.

"It's not, but I don't want to see you get hurt. I don't trust him."

"That's ironic, why would you hire someone you don't trust?" I snapped maybe a little too harshly at him.

He took a step back and a deep breath before proceeding, "I see he told you." He paused for a moment. "Ranger is good at what he does, with his business. I may not agree with how he does business often and I definitely don't trust him around you, but he is the right man for the job."

"Excuse me? I can take care of myself and I can pass judgement on whom I trust. There isn't a single person I trust more with my life than Ranger." I argued with a flare. How dare he? HE dumped ME! He was the one who quit our relationship, where does he get off telling me who I can and cant see?!

"Not even me." He was looking straight at me now, hurt in his eyes.

Had I trusted him? I trusted that he was faithful to me when we were together. I trusted that if I were in trouble or need he would try to be there. But did I trust him more than Ranger? Did I trust Ranger?

Of course I trusted Ranger with my life, he constantly had me lojacked and always showed up to save the day. He jumped off a bridge after me for crying out loud! But why? Why did Ranger do all of that? Why am I asking so many questions? Both men cared for me, I know that, and both would risk their lives to save me, it's what they do, it's part of their jobs and character makeup. I must have lost myself in my head because Morelli gave up waiting on my answer.

"I guess that answers my question." He sighed. "Just promise me you'll watch your back? And don't get too emotionally attached. Guys like him don't commit. His life doesn't include relationships past what you and him…. Do, or have, or whatever it is that you two call it."

"I trust that you believe you have my best interests in mind, but again, I'm not of your concern anymore. Now can I please go do my job?" I asked tipping my head towards the ambulance.

"Yea." I turned to go but he called after me, "Hey Steph. It was nice to see you." I turned my head over my shoulder and gave him a weak smile before walking over to Ranger and whom I presumed was Steven Callahan.

"Steven, this is my associate Stephanie Plum. She is helping with Ms. Johnson's security." Ranger introduced us, he made eye contact with me and I could see him asking if I was okay. It was all in his eyes. I nodded and gave a small reassuring smile and then extended my hand to Steven.

"Nice to meet you Steven"

"Nice to meet you as well Ms. Plum."

The fire took a few hours to put out, Ranger called in his forensic-type crew to wait it out and investigate while Tank arrived to take Mr. Callahan to a safehouse for the night.

Ranger and I were back in the Porsche headed towards my apartment.

"Are you okay?" Ranger asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Yes, are you?" Two can play this game. The tone in his voice was both concern and cold. I wasn't sure where the later was stemming from but I had a few ideas. He didn't respond.

"Who stole your cookie?" I asked sarcastically. No response.

"Look, I wasn't ready to go home earlier, I want to help. You hired me to do a job, now let me help."

"Some parts of the job I need to do on my own. Some parts are more dangerous." He still didn't take his eyes off the road even briefly.

"I can handle myself you know."

"I don't doubt you. I know you can take care of yourself." We were pulling into my parking lot now. Ranger parked near the front row. I still don't know how he is always able to do that, I swear he has some magic button to reserve good parking. That or a man who he has saved the spots for him, sometimes I really think he does. When the car was parked he turned off the ignition and finally looked back at me.

"What did Morelli have to say?" He asked. And that was the true problem. What did he think, that I went with to hopefully run into Morelli and talk with him?

"He didn't say a whole lot, just the usual." Silence, he just looked at me, giving me the chance to elaborate but not pushing me. Ranger excelled in this type of information gathering, he could outwait me and knew I would continue so that someone was talking, he knew I couldn't stand it.

"He told me he hired you for his wedding and was shocked I already knew. And as always he told me to be carefull around you." I sighed, how does he have the ability to make me talk so easily?

"Rightfully so" He responded.

"Oh no you don't. You don't go jumping on the 'Stephanie is too weak' bandwagon too. Don't tell me what and how to feel. Damnit if I want to be around you I will be. And if I want to chase bad guys I will! I'm tired of everyone constantly telling me what I should and shouldn't do, who I need to be, what I…" Ranger's mouth was on mine ceasing my rant immediately. The kiss was brief but sent a shockwave through my body. I was frozen in place, staring dumbfounded.

"I'm not telling you to do or not do anything. I didn't argue with you earlier when you decided to tag along with me either. But I do agree with Morelli that I can be a bad influence." He sat back in his seat calmly before getting out of the car. I scrambled out after him and stood hands on hips facing him.

"You are not a bad influence on me."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me right now. And screw Morelli! He screwed whats-her-face and got her knocked up and now he is permenantly not part of my life. I'm getting over it and so should you. Stop pushing me away because you think I cant handle your demons. Let me tell you, you haven't killed me with sex yet and that's a miracle in itself. So nothing you toss my way is going push me away." Where did that come from? Well, it's true. I haven't died via orgasm yet, though I've felt close to it before. Ranger is magic after all. And I know he's killed before, and yet its more comforting than scary. Nothing this man does scares me, unnerves me a little? Yea, the very thought of him naked makes me nervous that I wont be able to control myself. And he can be intimidating when he wants to be, but even that is softening to me. Gosh, maybe Connie war right, I am imploding, im driving myself nuts. I need space, time to think, before I drag Ranger upstairs and lock him in my apartment for the remainder of the weekend.

"I need to take a shower, I smell like smoke and you need to get back to the office and work your magic on this situation of Steven and Katie's." I waved my hand in the air as I said their names, gesturing in a 'fix it' kind of way.

"You're right, but this conversation isn't over. Tank can handle it."

"No, you need to oversee this one," I cut him off. "We're fine, go back to work and we will talk tomorrow or something."

"If you're sure."

"I am" I replied, letting out the breath I had apparently been holding in. The edge of his lips lifted on one side into a smile and he turned back toward his car.

"Sweet dreams Babe." And he climbed into the Turbo and left. I stood there for a moment before I could wrap my head around things. I need to clear my head and get Ranger out of it. I'm treading on dangerous territory here.


End file.
